Imprting data The purpse f this guide is t walk yu thrugh all f the steps required t imprt data int CharityMaster. The system allws nly the imprtatin f demgraphic date e.g. names, addresses, phne numbers, etc. Imprt file frmat CharityMaster can imprt data that is stred in the fllwing frmats:.csv cmma separated values als called cmma delimited frmat..xls Micrsft Excel 97 Excel 2003 wrkbks. If yu have Excel 2007 r later, yur data file prbably wuld be saved in.xlsx frmat. CharityMaster cannt read this frmat but yu can easily save yur data in the.xls frmat. (Use Save as.. and select the.xls file frmat.) Additinal file frmats may be supprted in the future but generally yur existing data can be easily transfrmed int ne f these tw frmats. The fllwing rules apply: It is essential that the data be rganized int rws with ne rw per name. Fr Excel wrkbks, the data must be in the first wrksheet f the wrkbk. Blank rws are nt allwed. The first rw in the file must be a header rw which tells CharityMaster what data is stred in each clumn. The header rw cntains the CharityMaster field names ne field per clumn. The clumn header names must match exactly the names in the table belw. Check that yur clumn headers d nt cntain any spaces! The rder f the clumns des nt matter. The number f clumns yu want t imprt des nt matter: yu need nly have thse clumns that apply t yur data. Hwever the fllwing fur fields MUST be in yur data file: EntityCde CmpanyName (This clumn can be all blanks) FirstName LastName Data Imprt Guide September 20, 2016 1
The fllwing table shws the field names / clumn headings available: Field name (in header rw) Maximum length Cmments EntityCde 2 Mandatry clumn. Must be a valid number. See the Errrs sectin belw. LastName 25 Mandatry clumn. May be blank. FirstName 25 Mandatry clumn. May be blank. Nickname 25 This field is the salutatin field. If this field is blank, CharityMaster will insert FirstName int this field. CmpanyName 40 Mandatry clumn. May be blank. Psitin 50 May be blank. Applicable t rganizatin recrds nly. Examples: Owner, President Address1 60 May be blank. Address2 60 May be blank. City 50 If there is n entry in this field, CharityMaster will autmatically enter the city where yur rganizatin is lcated. 1 State 50 May be blank. This is the state, prvince, territry r cunty. In the US and Canada, it is strngly recmmended that yu use the standard tw character cdes fr states and prvinces since this is the best frmat t fit in address labels, etc. 2 Pstal 15 May be blank. Cuntry 50 If there is n entry in this field, CharityMaster will autmatically enter the cuntry where yur rganizatin is lcated. 3 HmePhne 20 Must nt cntain any spaces r special characters such as ( r -. May be blank. 4 1 The default city is set n the Organizatin tab f the System Setup screen. 2 In the US and Canada, the valid state and prvince abbreviatins (tw capital letters) can be seen n the Prvince / State drp dwn. Yu can als find these abbreviatins at http://www.usps.cm/ncsc/lkups/usps_abbreviatins.html r http://canadanline.abut.cm/d/pstalservices/a/abbreviatins-prvinces-canada.htm 3 The default cuntry is set n the Organizatin tab f the System Setup screen. 4 If there are any spaces r special characters in phne numbers, the search fr phne number functinality will nt wrk. Data Imprt Guide September 20, 2016 2
Field name (in header rw) Maximum length Cmments BusPhne 20 Must nt cntain any spaces r special characters such as ( r -. May be blank. 5 BusExtensin 5 May be blank. emailaddress 50 May be blank. Must be in a valid e-mail address frmat. CellPhne 20 Must nt cntain any spaces r special characters such as ( r -. May be blank. 5 FaxPhne 20 May be blank. Lgic Errrs The system checks fr the fllwing errrs in the file that cntains yur data: Invalid field names. The field name must be exactly the same as in the table abve. The entity cde must be ne f the valid entity type cdes already defined in CharityMaster. See the Maintain Entity Types screen which is reached frm the File Maintenance General menu. Unless yu have entered a user defined entity type cde, the nly entity cdes are: 1 - Individual 2 - Cmpany 3 - Fundatin / Agency 4 - Gvernment If the entity cde des nt equal 1, the CmpanyName (rganizatin name) field cannt be blank. (If the entity cde is 1, CharityMaster will ignre any entry in the CmpanyName field.) If the first name is entered, the last name must als be entered. If the last name is entered, the first name must als be entered. The e-mail address frmat must be valid: i.e. it must cntain the symbl @ and the last tw r three characters must be preceded by a perid. If the system finds a nn-numeric entry in the EntityCde field, it will display a message that it was unable t append all f the data t the table. Click Yes and the system will cntinue t prcess rws f data. CharityMaster will then tell yu in which recrd the errr ccurred. If any errrs are detected, the imprt cannt prceed. 5 If there are any spaces r special characters in phne numbers, the search fr phne number functinality will nt wrk. Data Imprt Guide September 20, 2016 3
Prcedure CharityMaster imprts data in tw steps. In the first step, yu tell CharityMaster which file cntains yur data. Once yu d this, CharityMaster will autmatically try t cnvert yur data int a frm that can be read by CharityMaster. If n errrs are fund, then yu can press the Start merge buttn. CharityMaster will then check fr bth lgic errrs and ptential duplicate names. The fllwing is a detailed guide: 1. Back up yur data file. It is better t be safe and nt imprt a bunch f data yu dn t want. 2. Ensure that the prgram that created yur data file is clsed. In ther wrds, if the data file is pen in Excel, the imprt cannt be started. 3. Start CharityMaster and start the Imprt Wizard by clicking n the Imprt Wizard buttn n the Hme tab f the ribbn. 4. Select the type f file that has the data yu are imprting. (See abve fr the list f supprted file types.) 5. Click n Get file and navigate t the flder where yur data are stred. Click n the file name and then click n the Open buttn n the file brwse dialg bx. 6. If yur data des nt cntain any errrs, the screen will shw the data frm the mandatry fields and the Start Merge buttn will be enabled. If any errrs are detected, a message will appear listing all f the errrs. Prceed as fllws: a. Clse the Imprt Wizard. (Imprtant) b. Open the data file and crrect the errrs and then be sure t clse the data file. c. Re-pen the Imprt Wizard. d. Cntinue as utlined abve. 7. Yu can review the data n the screen and make any changes yu wish befre yu start the imprt. 8. When yu click the Start Merge buttn, the system will take each rw in turn and cmpare it against the existing data t ensure there are n duplicates (r suspected duplicates.) If it finds a suspected duplicate, yu are asked if the recrd yu are adding is the same as the ne already in the database. 9. If yu want t review each f the names yu have just added, yu can set the Custm Filter (n the Maintain Names tab) t srt by Date Added. All f the recrds yu just added will be displayed at the beginning f the database brwse sequence. Trubleshting Errrs in frmatting the data will smetimes ccur especially if the Excel spreadsheet was created by anther prgram such as QuickBks. When QuickBks creates an Excel spreadsheet, it may insert a page f instructins as the first wrksheet in the wrkbk file. Delete this wrksheet since yur data must be in the first wrksheet in the wrkbk. QuickBks will generally insert ne r mre clumns with hidden data t the right f the clumns f data that yu want t imprt. When yu try t pen a file with hidden data in place, yu will get a CharityMaster errr such as "The clumn header F1 in the file being imprted is nt a valid CharityMaster name" (where F1 is sme hidden data.) Open the wrkbk in Data Imprt Guide September 20, 2016 4
questin and select the sheet yu are imprting. Delete all f the clumns t the right f yur data. Save the file. Try imprting again. QuickBks des nt impse strict edits n fields such as telephne numbers. Smetimes users may have entered phne numbers with spaces. In this case, CharityMaster will create a blank recrd. Review all phne numbers in yur Excel wrksheet t ensure that they have n spaces. Data Imprt Guide September 20, 2016 5